Adjustable hair roller

ABSTRACT

An adjustable hair roller having a body and an adjustment mechanism is disclosed. The body includes an outer surface that engages with strands of hair, and an inner surface defining an area within which is disposed the adjustment mechanism. The adjustment mechanism may include a first portion and a second portion, located on a first half and second half of the inner surface of the body, respectively. The first and second portions engage with one another, thereby changing a profile of the body of the roller from a first shape to a second shape.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

[0001] The present application is a non-provisional application basedon, and claiming the priority benefit of, co-pending U.S. provisionalapplication Serial No. 60/416,811, which was filed on Oct. 8, 2002, andis expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to an adjustable hairroller and, more particularly, to a hair roller able to change from afirst shape to a second shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0003] Hair rollers are known to be used to create curls in one's hair.There are many types of rollers that have been used in the past, andthere are many ways the various rollers are attached to the hair or thehead of an individual. For example, rollers are available having smalland large diameters. Such rollers may have either a hollow or a solidcore. Rollers are also available in various materials such as plastic,metal, or foam, and some rollers have been adapted to function with theuse of heat, such as from a hairdryer or from heat created by therollers themselves. Similarly, many means have been used to attach therollers to the hair or head of the individual, such as clasps that areintegral to the roller, bobby pins, and/or other clip-type devices.

[0004] Even though the above rollers have been used in the past, thereare inherent limitations that these rollers possess. For example, whenthe user desires to achieve different types of bangs, the user has touse various devices and/or skills to achieve the desired look. The usermay desire to have bangs that are flat or puffy, or may desire to havebangs that are closer or farther away from the user's forehead. Theuser, to achieve the different looks, may use a device such as a curlingiron, round roller, blow dryer, and/or chemicals to achieve the desiredlook. Similarly, it may take the user large amounts of tedious,frustrating, and all-consuming time to create the desired shape. In somecircumstances the user may be unable to achieve the desired look at all.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0005] In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure among others, anadjustable hair roller is disclosed. The adjustable hair roller includesa body and an adjustment mechanism. The body may include an outersurface adapted to engage with strands of hair, and an inner surfacehaving an adjustment mechanism. The adjustment mechanism may include afirst portion and a second portion, disposed from a first half andsecond half of the inner surface of the body, respectively. The firstand second portions may be adapted to engage with one another, therebychanging the shape of the roller from a first shape to a second shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an adjustable hair roller asconstructed in accordance with the teachings of the disclosure;

[0007]FIG. 2 is a front view of the adjustable hair roller of FIG. 1with the adjustment mechanism engaged;

[0008]FIG. 3 is a front view of the adjustable hair roller of FIG. Iwith the adjustment mechanism further engaged; and

[0009]FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the adjustable hair roller of FIG.1 as worn by a user.

[0010] While the method and device described herein are susceptible tovarious modifications and alternative constructions, certainillustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings andwill be described below in detail. It should be understood, however,that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific formsdisclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention and the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Referring now to the drawings and with specific reference to FIG.1, an adjustable roller constructed in accordance with the teachings ofthe disclosure is generally depicted by reference numeral 20. As showntherein, the adjustable roller 20 includes a body 22 and an adjustmentmechanism 24.

[0012] In one exemplary embodiment, the body 22 may be of a generallycylindrical shape including an inner surface 26 and an outer surface 28.The inner surface 26 of the body 22 and the outer surface 28 of the body22 may be constructed from one or more materials. The inner surface 26of the body 22 may, for example, be constructed from a semi-flexible orsemi-rigid plastic material, to give substance and/or form to the body22. The outer surface 28 of the body 22 may be constructed from amaterial adapted to engage with the user's hair, such as foam, Velcro®,or the like.

[0013] In one exemplary embodiment, the adjustment mechanism 24 may be aclick and lock type mechanism having a first portion 30 and a secondportion 32. More specifically, as used herein, a click and lockmechanism encompasses all mechanisms having a first and second portion,in which the first portion 30 is adapted to engage with the secondportion 32 in varying degrees, and in which the first portion 30 willremain in the same degree of engagement relative to the second portion32 until adjusted by the user. The adjustment mechanism 24 may extend anentire length of the body 22, or may only extend a partial length.Similarly, the adjustment mechanic 24 may be constructed in multiplesections along the body 22.

[0014] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, the first portion 30 of theadjustment mechanism 24 may include an enlarged cylindrical end portion34 disposed at an end of a substantially planar portion 36, and thesecond portion 32 may include a clasp portion 38 having a plurality ofnotches 40, such as for example notches A, B, C and D, as seen inFIG. 1. The clasp portion 38 may further include a first section 42, asecond section 44 and an opening 46, wherein each of the first andsecond sections 42, 44 have an inner surface 48 and an outer surface 50,and wherein the plurality of notches 40 may be disposed in an areadefined by the inner surface 48 of the sections 42, 44 and are adaptedto engage with the end portion 34.

[0015] More specifically, the planar portion 36 may be fixedly attachedto the inner portion 26 of the body 22. The end portion 34 may extendinwardly toward the center of the body 22, and may be located at the endof the planar portion 36 toward the center of the body 22. The planarportion 36 may be fixedly attached to the body 22 near the center of afirst half 60 of the body 22. The clasp portion 38 may be fixedlyattached to the inner portion 26 of the body 22, extend inwardly towardthe center of the body 22, such that the first and second sections 42,44 are parallel to each other, and such that the opening 46 is locatedtoward the center of the body 22. The clasp portion 38 may be fixedlyattached to the body 22 near the center of a second half 62 of the body22.

[0016] The above exemplary embodiments may include many variationsthereof, thereby creating additional and/or alternative features. Forexample, the adjustment mechanism 24 is not limited to the embodimentsdisclosed above, but may be any adjustment mechanism 24 adaptable tolock and change the shape (i.e. the cross-section perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis) of the body 22. For example, the adjustment mechanism24 may be any type of mechanism having a key and a way, a ratchet typemechanism, a latch and key mechanism, and opposing teeth or hooks thatcan be engaged and disengaged.

[0017] In operation, the adjustable roller 20 may be used to achieve avariety of shapes of curls, including, but not limited to, round andoval. In one exemplary embodiment, the user may change the type of curlby changing a shape of the body 22 from a first shape to a second shape.More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the body 22 has a substantiallyround shape, such that the outer surface 28 of the body 22 is basicallyround, at which time the cylindrical end portion 34 may be secured innotch A. To change the shape, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the user maysqueeze or pinch the outer surface 28 of body 22 near the center of thefirst and second halves 60, 62 together, thereby forcing the center ofthe halves 60, 62 toward each other and changing the shape of the body22 to oval. As the body 22 is squeezed or pinched with enough force, theend portion 34 may move from notch A to notch B, as shown in FIG. 2. Iffurther forced, the end portion 34 may move to notch C, as shown in FIG.3, etc.

[0018] Once the end portion 34 is engaged in one of the notches 40, theend portion 34 may remain in the specific notch until moved by the user.More specifically, as the user forces the end portion 34 from notch A tonotch B, the first and second sections 42, 44 may bend toward theoutsides of the sections 42, 44 respectively, thereby allowing passageof the end portion 34 between the notches 40. Similarly, once the endportion 34 is located in one of the notches 40, the resiliency of thefirst and second sections 42, 44 may entrap the end portion 34 in thenotch until the force of the user causes the end portion 34 to overcomethe resiliency of the first and second sections 42, 44.

[0019] The user may adjust the adjustable roller 20 to the desired shapebefore, during and/or after the adjustable roller 20 has been woundaround with strands of hair 46. As shown in FIG. 4, the user may windthe strands of hair 46 around the adjustable roller 20, and then securethe adjustable roller 20 to the head or strands of hair 46 of the user.The adjustable roller 20 may be secures by winding the strands of hair46 tightly around the adjustable roller 20, or by using securement means(not shown) such as clips, bobby pins, rubber bands, or any othersuitable securement means able to accomplish the intended purpose.

[0020] In one exemplary embodiment, the user may anytime before, afterand/or during the winding of the strands of hair around the rolleradjustable roller 20, wet the hair with water and/or any hair stylingproduct to easier manipulate the hair and/or to add a desired quality tothe hair, such as body, hold, softness, volume, aroma, shine, lack offrizz, etc.

[0021] While the foregoing detailed description has been described withreference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrativeonly and not to be limiting of the disclosure, it will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletionsmay be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An adjustable hair roller comprising: a bodyhaving inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the outer surface isadapted to engage with strands of hair; and an adjustment mechanismhaving a first portion extending inwardly from the inner surface at afirst location, and a second portion extending inwardly from the innersurface approximately opposite the first location; wherein the body hasa first cross-section when the adjustment mechanism is engaged in afirst position, and the body has a second cross-section when theadjustment mechanism is engaged in a second position.
 2. The adjustablehair roller of claim 1, wherein the first and second cross-section ofthe body is a cross-section perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of thebody.
 3. The adjustable hair roller of claim 1, wherein the outersurface includes bristles.
 4. The adjustable hair roller of claim 3,wherein the bristles are constructed from one part of a hook and loopfastener.
 5. The adjustable hair roller of claim 3, wherein the bristlesare constructed from one part of a VELCRO® material.
 6. The adjustablehair roller of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the adjustmentmechanism includes a plurality of notches, and the second portion of theadjustment mechanism includes a key adapted to engage with the notches.7. The adjustable hair roller of claim 1, wherein the first portion ofthe adjustment mechanism includes a plurality of circular notchesextending through a majority of the first portion, and the secondportion of the adjustment mechanism includes a generally cylindrical keyadapted to engage with the circular notches.
 8. The adjustable hairroller of claim 1, wherein the first cross-section is generallycircular, and the second cross-section shape is generally oval.
 9. Anadjustable hair roller comprising: a body having inner surface and anouter surface, wherein the outer surface is adapted to engage withstrands of hair; and an adjustment mechanism having a first portionextending inwardly from the inner surface at a first location, and asecond portion extending inwardly from the inner surface approximatelyopposite the first location, wherein the first portion of the adjustmentmechanism includes a plurality of notches, and the second portionincludes a key adapted to engage with the notches, wherein the body hasa generally circular cross-section when the key is engaged with a firstnotch, and the body has a generally oval cross-section when the key isengaged with a second notch.
 10. The adjustable hair roller of claim 9,wherein the first portion of the adjustment mechanism includes aplurality of circular notches extending through a majority of the firstportion, and the second portion of the adjustment mechanism includes agenerally cylindrical key adapted to engage with the circular notches.11. The adjustable hair roller of claim 9, wherein the cross-section ofthe body is a cross-section perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of thebody.
 12. The adjustable hair roller of claim 9, wherein the outersurface includes bristles.
 13. The adjustable hair roller of claim 12,wherein the bristles are constructed from one part of a hook and loopfastener.
 14. The adjustable hair roller of claim 12, wherein thebristles are constructed from one part of a VELCRO® material.
 15. Amethod of changing the cross-section of a hair roller comprising:placing a first portion and a second portion of an adjustment mechanismgenerally opposite each other on an inner surface of the roller, thefirst and second portion extending inwardly from the inner surface;engaging the first portion of adjustment mechanism with the secondportion of the adjustment mechanism; placing a force on an outer surfaceof the roller near at least one of the first and second portions; andchanging the shape of the roller from a generally circular shape to agenerally oval shape.